The following words, terms, and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
(a) “Applicant” means any person proposing or implementing the development or redevelopment of land.
(b) “BMP” or “Best Management Practice” means any practice, or combination of practices and design criteria that comply with the current Wayne County Stormwater Management Program Standards or equivalent practices and design criteria that accomplish the purposes of this chapter (including, but not limited to minimizing stormwater runoff and preventing the discharge of pollutants into stormwater) as determined by the City Engineer and/or, where appropriate, the standards of Wayne County.
(c) “Channel” means a natural or artificial watercourse with a definite bed and banks that conduct continuously or periodically flowing water.
(d) “City Engineer” means the Engineering Department of the City or the consulting engineers employed by the City.
(e) “Conveyance facility” means a storm drain, pipe, swale, or channel.
(f) “Design engineer” means the registered professional engineer responsible for the design of the stormwater management plan.
(g) “Detention” means a system that is designed to capture stormwater and release it over a given period of time through an outlet structure at a controlled rate. The goals of this BMP are to control peak discharge rates and provide gravity settling of pollutants.
(h) “Developed” or “development” means the installation or construction of impervious surfaces on a development site that requires, pursuant to State law or local ordinance, City of Southgate approval of a site plan, site condominium, special land use, planned unit development, land division approval, private road approval, or other approvals required for the development of land or the erection of buildings or structures; provided, however, that for the purposes of this chapter only, “developed” or “development” shall not include the actual construction of, or an addition, extension, or modification to, an individual single-family or a two-family detached dwelling that disturbs less than one acre.
(i) “Developed stormwater flows.” means stormwater that flows from a site after the improvements are constructed.
(j) “Developer” means any person who submits an application for a permit for the development or improvement of a parcel of land within the city.
(k) “EGLE” means Environment, Great Lakes & Energy, State of Michigan.
(l) “Engineered site grading plan” means a signed/sealed drawing or plan and accompanying text prepared by a registered engineer in the State of Michigan which shows alterations of topography, alterations of watercourses, flow directions of stormwater runoff, and proposed stormwater management and measures, having as its purpose to ensure that the objectives of this chapter are met.
(m) “Erosion and Sediment Control Plan” means a plan that is designed to minimize the accelerated erosion and sedimentation runoff at a site during construction.
(n) “Grading” means any stripping, excavating, filling, or stockpiling of soil or any combination thereof and the land in its excavated or filled condition.
(o) “Impervious areas” means those areas which do not permit the percolation of storm waters to subsurface soils, e.g., hard-surfaced parking lots, driveways and roadways, buildings, sidewalks, etc.
(p) “Impervious surface” means a surface that does not allow stormwater runoff to slowly percolate into the soil.
(q) “Infiltration” means the percolation of water into the ground, expressed in inches per hour.
(r) “Land disturbing activity” means any activity that changes the volume or peak flow discharge of rainfall runoff from the land surface. this may include the grading, digging, cutting, scraping, or excavating of soil, placement of fill materials, paving, construction, substantial removal of vegetation, or any activity that bares soil or rock or involves the diversion or piping of any natural or man-made watercourse.
(s) “Lot” means a parcel, tract, or plot of land, either platted or unplatted.
(t) “Maintenance agreement” means a binding agreement that establishes the terms, measures, and conditions for the maintenance of stormwater systems and facilities.
(u) “National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (Npdes) Stormwater Discharge Permit” means the permit issued to the City of Southgate by EGLE for point source discharges of stormwater from municipal separate storm sewer systems.
(v) “New development” means any improvement to or development of a parcel of land requiring approval or a permit, or a pending application that requires approval of the City Planning Commission, the Board of Zoning Appeals, and/or City Council.
(w) “Non-structural measure” means a stormwater control and treatment technique that uses natural processes, restoration or enhancement of natural systems, or design approaches to control runoff and/or reduce pollutant levels. such measures are used in lieu of or to supplement structural practices on a land development site.
(x) “Offsite facility” all or part of a drainage system that is located partially or completely off the development site which it serves.
(y) “On-site detention/retention facility” means a stormwater detention facility located on or adjacent to the developer's lot and which is constructed for the purpose of serving the developer's lot.
(z) “Owner” means a fee titleholder, a land contract vendee, a lessee, a tenant of the property, and the person, individually and/or collectively, entitled to possession of the property.
(aa) “Peak rate of discharge” means the maximum rate of stormwater flow at a particular location following a storm event, as measured at a given point and time in cubic feet per second (CFS).
(bb) “Permanent stormwater BMP” means a stormwater best management practice (BMP) that will be operational after the construction phase of a project and that is designed to become a permanent part of the site for the purposes of managing stormwater runoff.
(cc) “Plan” means written narratives, specifications, drawings, sketches, written standards, operating procedures, or any combination of these which contain information pursuant to this chapter.
(dd) “Post-construction stormwater management plan (stormwater plan)” means drawings and written information prepared by a registered engineer in the State of Michigan, which describe the way in which accelerated soil erosion and/or stormwater flows from a particular site are proposed to be controlled, both during and after construction, having as its purpose to ensure that the objectives of this chapter are met.
(ee) “Receiving stream or channel” means the body of water or conveyance into which stormwater runoff is discharged.
(ff) “Recharge” means the replenishment of underground water reserves through percolation.
(gg) “Redevelopment” means a change to a previously existing, improved property, including but not limited to the demolition or building of structures, filling, grading, paving, or excavating, but excluding ordinary maintenance activities, remodeling of buildings on the existing footprint (i.e. interior painting, flooring, and trim work), resurfacing of paved areas, and exterior changes or improvements that do not materially increase or concentrate stormwater runoff or cause additional nonpoint source pollution.
(hh) “Responsible party” means any individual, partnership, co-partnership, firm, company, corporation, association, joint stock, company, trust, estate, governmental entity, or any other legal entity; or their representatives, agents, or assigns that is named on a stormwater maintenance agreement as responsible for long-term operation and maintenance of one or more stormwater BMP's.
(ii) “Retention” means a holding system for stormwater, either natural or man-made, which does not have a direct outlet to adjoining watercourses or wetlands.
(jj) “Runoff” means that part of precipitation, which flows over the land.
(kk) “Sediment” means mineral or organic particulate matter that has been removed from its site of origin by the processes of soil erosion, is in suspension in water, or is being transported.
(ll) “Stormwater BMP” means any facility, structure, channel, area, process, or measure which serves to control stormwater runoff in accordance with the purposes and standards of this chapter.
(mm) “Stormwater management design manual” means the current Wayne County Standards document provides a detailed explanation of the design criteria and specific constructed approaches for achieving compliance with the City's Post-construction Stormwater Management Ordinance.
(nn) “Stormwater management policies and procedures manual” means the current Wayne County Standards document provides a detailed explanation of the policies and procedures for achieving compliance with the City's Post-construction Stormwater Management Ordinance.
(oo) “Stream buffer” means an area of land at or near a streambank, wetland, or waterbody that has intrinsic water quality value due to the ecological and biological processes it performs or is otherwise sensitive to changes that may otherwise result in significant degradation to water quality.
(pp) “Watercourse” means any natural or manmade waterway or other body of water having reasonably well-defined banks, rivers, streams, creeks, brooks, and channels, whether continually or intermittently flowing, as well as lakes and ponds, are watercourses for purposes of stormwater management.
(qq) “Watershed” means an area of land draining to a common outlet otherwise known as a drainage or catchment area.
(rr) “Wetlands” as defined by Michigan's Wetland Statute, PART 303, Wetlands Protection, of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, 1994 PA 451, as amended.
(Ord. 22-1028. Passed 10-19-22.)